Population in India: Density, Sex Ratio and Literacy

India’s population as on 1st March 2001 stood at 1,028 million (532.1 million males and 496.4 million females).

India accounts just 2.4 per cent of the world surface, but it supports and sustains a whopping 16.7 per cent of the world population.

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The population of India, as recorded at each decennial census from 1901 has grown steadily except for a decrease during 1911-21. Decadal growth of population from 1901 is shown in table 1.

Table 1. Population Growth:

Census

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Year

Population

Decade Growth

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Percent

Absolute

1901

23,83,96,327

__

__

1911

25,20,93,390

1,36,97,063

5.75

1921

25,13,21,213

-7,72,177

-0.31

1931

27,89,77,238

2,76,56,025

11.00

1941

31,86,60,580

3,96,83,342

14.22

1951

36,10,88,090

4,24,27,510

13.31

1961

43,92,34,771

7,81,46,681

21.64

1971

54,81,59,652

10,89,24,881

24.80

1981

68,33,29,097

13,51,69,445

24.66

1991

84,64,21,039

16,30,91,942

23.87

2001

1,02,87,37,436

18,23,16,397

21.54

Population Density:

One of the important indices of population concentration is the density of population. It is defined as the number of persons per sq. km. The population density of India in 2001 was 324 per sq. km.

The density of population has increased in all states and Union Territories between 1991 and 2001. Among the states, West Bengal is still the most thickly populated state with a population density of 903 in 2001. Bihar and Kerala placed second and third as per the census report.

Sex Ratio:

It is defined as the number of females per thousand males. It is an important social indicator to measure the equality between males and females in a society at a given period of time. According to 2001 census the sex ratio is 933. The sex ratio from 1901-2001 is given in Table 2.

Table: 2 Sex Ratio:

Census Year

Sex Ratio (Females per 1000 males)

1901

972

1911

964

1921

955

1931

950

1941

945

1951

946

1961

941

1971

930

1981

934

1991

926

2001

933

Literacy:

According to census, a person aged seven and above, who can both read and write with understanding in any language, is treated as literate. A person who can only read but cannot write is not literate. The provisional results of 2001 reveal that there has been an increase in literacy in the country.

The literacy rate in the country is 64.84 percent (75.26 for males and 53.67 for females). Kerala retained its position by being on top with a 90.86 percent literacy rate and Bihar ranks lowest among all states with 47 percent literacy rate.

The steady improvement in literacy rate is shown in table 3.

Table 3: Literacy Rate:

Census

Literacy

Males (%)

Females (%)

Year

Percentage

1951

18.33

27.16

8.86

1961

28.3

40.40

15.35

1971

34.45

45.96

21.97

1981

43.57

56.38

29.76

1991

52.21

64.13

39.29

2001

64.84

75.26

53.67

Malthusian Theory of Population:

Malthus (1766-1834) published his major work on population in 1798; under the heading “An Essay on the Principle of Population” as it affects the future improvement of society. His theory is based on the relation between the growth of population and the growth of food supply.

According to him, “The population increases in a geometrical ratio (1, 2, 4, 8, etc.), but the food production increases only in an arithmetical ratio (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.). A slight acquaintance with numbers will show the immensity of the first power in comparison with the second.”

Malthus explained the dynamics of population growth with reference to what he called “positive checks”. In the event of growth of population outstripping the growth of food supply, positive checks like war, earthquake and famine will destroy a part of the population and restore equilibrium.

If population were smaller in relation to available food supply, it will induce the worker to enlarge his family. So population increases more than is desirable and again, the inexorable positive checks come into play for getting rid of the excess population. Later, Malthus relented and said that preventive checks like late marriage can stem, the tide of misery.

Disadvantages of Overpopulation:

The major disadvantages of overpopulation in a country are as follows:

(1) It is very difficult to provide facilities such as education, health and basic amenities to the members of the society,

(2) It is very difficult to provide food for the entire population.

(3) Overpopulation creates a disguised unemployment in all the segment of the country.